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Convicted fraudster Lee A-reum has sentence reduced on appeal

Published: 13 Aug. 2025, 13:54

Lee A-reum, formerly of K-pop girl group T-ara, in an image captured from Instagram [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Former T-ara member Lee A-reum, who failed to repay loans worth tens of millions of won, has had her prison sentence reduced on appeal.

In April, Lee was convicted of fraud and sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years. The court imposed a term of one year and six months on her boyfriend on the same charge. On Wednesday, the Suwon District Court reduced Lee's sentence to four months, suspended for two years, and knocked two months off her boyfriend's term.

The court said Lee knew her boyfriend was “committing fraud against her fans and others and still conspired with him, repeatedly defrauding the victims, which is not a light offense.”

However, the court also said the defendant had “reflected on her actions and reached settlements with some of the victims” and that the lower court’s sentence was “unduly heavy.”

The court said Lee's boyfriend had “repeatedly committed fraud, and the total amount of damage was significant,” but it also took into account that he'd reached settlements with some victims and fully admitted to the charges.

Lee and her boyfriend were indicted in December for borrowing around 37 million won ($26,800) from three people, including fans, and not repaying the money. The victims filed police complaints between March and May of last year, alleging that Lee borrowed the funds, citing personal circumstances, but has yet to return them.

In December 2024, the Ansan branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Lee’s boyfriend under detention and Lee without detention on fraud charges. Both the prosecution and Lee’s boyfriend appealed, with the former arguing that the sentence was too lenient.

Lee joined T-ara in 2012 and left the following year. The girl group is known for songs like “Roly-Poly” (2011), “TTL” (2009) and “Bo Peep Bo Peep” (2009).

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom staff.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]